NIGERIA TUC UNHAPPY WITH RAILWAY LINE CONSTRUCTION TO NIGER REPUBLIC

The construction of a US$1.96billion railway line to Niger Republic has been rejected by the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC).

TUC said the project is an insult to Nigerians and a waste of the country’s scarce resources after the federal government approved fund for the project.

In a statement jointly signed by TUC president and Secretary-General, Musa-Lawal Ozigi, reads “The Congress is not averse to development; constructing rail lines to Kano, Katsina and Dutse is understandable, but why extend it to Niger Republic? Why should we borrow from the IMF, World Bank and China to build a rail line to Niger Republic? Is there something this government is not telling us? How could the federal government come up with such an idea in a country where potable water has become a luxury; right to electricity is regarded as a taboo for an average citizen; roads have become death traps and our health facilities lack malaria drugs? That sum of $1.96billion (for the construction of the rail line), when exchanged at the rate of N380 per dollar is almost N800billion. This can do a lot in the economy.”

TUC also said according to a report from the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria’s total debt had risen to US$79.5 billion (N28.63 trillion as of the first quarter of 2020).

The congress call on President Buhari to give attention to roads throughout the country as most of them are still incomplete due to lack of funds.

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